ALVECHURCH boss Ian Long admitted his side weren't clinical enough in front of goal as they were held to a 2-2 draw by bottom side Sheffield FC in the Northern Premier League Division One South.

To make matters worse, Church were undone by a 90th minute free kick which shouldn't have taken place.

Long said: "The referee apologised to me afterwards and confirmed he shouldn't have awarded the free kick.

"But that said, it was our fault we weren't able to defend it.

"We're just not clicking properly in front of goal at the moment, but when we do, some side is going to be on the receiving end of a hiding, because there's not much else wrong at the moment.

"The verdict from our players is that we defended too deep for the free kick, when we had plenty of time to set-up for it."

Church have been handed an unexpected boost with the news that promotion rivals Cleethorpes have been deducted 12 points.

Long added: "It's an awful lot of points to make up at this stage and great for all the teams in the chase for a play-off place. But the games will be coming thick and fast now and we've got to make sure the squad is up to the task.

"It's nothing new for us, from our time together both at Tividale and now Alvechurch, we've always been in a situation of playing catch-up.

Long also paid tribute to Alvechurch's army of travelling support and said: "We must have taken around 60 supporters to Sheffield. There's a hardcore that follow us everywhere and even Sheffield complimented us on our support. I'm only sorry we didn't give them a bit more to sing about."

Church entertain Corby Town this Saturday at Lye Meadow and then host Nottingham-based Carlton Town on Tuesday.